Editorial: The Important Question is How Much of a Money Mark
Is AEW President Tony Khan a money mark? AEW critics have laughed about Khan’s chummy relationship with his wrestlers but AEW defenders (and some neutral observers) dismissed it as jealousy or haterade.
However, this week’s extracurricular AEW activities (i.e. AEW’s backstage bedlam that saw AEW’s world champion and its Executive Vice-Presidents allegedly slug it out) make it obvious that Tony Khan is arguably the biggest money mark in wrestling history.
Great Money Marks in Wrestling History
Wikipedia’s glossary of wrestling terms has some good definitions for laypeople.
Someone who founds or invests in a wrestling promotion mainly to associate with wrestlers, often willfully or ignorantly disregarding financial risks a profit-focused investor would avoid.
H/T Wikipedia
However, wrestling history also suggests that there are people who have either gone into the wrestling business (either as an owner or as an executive) with good intentions only to find themselves seduced by the business, especially when it comes to becoming friendly with wrestlers.
Let’s briefly look at three infamous money marks and compare them to Tony Khan.
Herb Abrams Universal Wrestling Federation
Herb Abrams was a lifelong wrestling fan who happened to be wealthy thanks to his stores that sold clothing to plus-sized girls. Abrams founded his own wrestling promotion, the Universal Wrestling Federation (not to be confused with “Cowboy” Bill Watts’ promotion). Abrams inserted himself into television in different roles including announcer and later, an interviewer. Abrams’ personal demons didn’t stop him from bringing in a surprising number of top stars but his bad booking, financial mismanagement, and loss of TV doomed the promotion. Like many money marks, he discovered that running a professional wrestling company isn’t as easy as it looks.
Abrams’ life was documented in the book Tortured Ambition: The Story of Herb Abrams and the UWF, which I highly recommend. It’s a fascinating look at what happens when a promoter gets too close to his talent.
Jonathon Vargas: Wrestlelicious
When 19-year-old Jonathon Vargas won a $35.3 million Powerball jackpot, he did what any young man would do; he founded a wrestling promotion built around female wrestlers. The promotion was called Wrestlelicious and Vargas appeared as an on-air personality (JV Rich, the owner of the promotion) and the show aired for 13 episodes. Sadly, Wrestlelicious was one of several bad investments for Vargas. According to the website Lottery Analyst:
After the spectacular failure of his wrestling show, Jonathan has stayed entirely out of the media, and nobody is entirely sure where he is or what he is doing nowadays. The only shred of information that did come out after the cancellation of the show was that all of Jonathan’s other investments had crashed as severely as his television show and that the once multi-millionaire was utterly bankrupt.
H/T Lottery Analyst
Vargas’ dream of becoming a successful promoter vanished, a painful reminder that seems to have been forgotten.
Eric Bischoff: World Championship Wrestling
Eric Bischoff didn’t found WCW or put his own money into it (no, that was Ted Turner’s money). To “Easy E’s” credit, he helped turn WCW from a failed wrestling company into a highly successful one that seemed to have the WWF on the ropes.
Unfortunately, the case can be made that Bischoff became a bit too chummy with the wrestlers, not only falling into the trap of letting wrestlers have too much control (such as creative control in Hulk Hogan’s case that allowed Hogan to utter the magic words “That doesn’t work for me brother” and nix any decision he didn’t like affecting him).
Wrestling legend has it that Bischoff got a bit too generous with his guaranteed deals for wrestlers, a habit that earned him the nickname “ATM Eric.”
Bischoff’s decision to become an on-air character is often cited as another example of Bischoff getting too chummy with his wrestlers and losing control over how WCW was operated.
While Bischoff will swear that WCW did not go out of business because of his actions, there are more than a few pundits who have leveled a large share of the blame at him. Looking at how Bischoff got chummy with wrestlers, overspent, and lost control, it’s easy to call him a money mark. Perhaps that’s why he’s so critical of Tony Khan.
Is Tony Khan a Money Mark?
Do any of these former promoters/executives sound like a certain wrestling executive “managing” a national promotion?
- Chummy with His Wrestlers
- Money is No Object
- An Inability to Maintain Order in His Promotion
Chummy with His Wrestlers
There’s nothing wrong with promoters (or executives) maintaining a relationship with their talent (unless it crosses the line into nondisclosure agreements). However, Tony Khan appears to think his wrestlers are his friends rather than his employees independent contractors. One of the biggest examples was when he signed Claudio Castagnoli and hugged “The Swiss Superman” like he was a creepy fan at a meet-and-greet. Vince McMahon has been friends with wrestlers in the past but he’s also learned the hard way that this can lead to trouble (Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior being two examples of McMahon getting burned).
It’s understandable why one or more wrestlers could awe someone. Wrestlers are larger-than-life charismatic individuals (although AEW critics might dispute whether this applies to more than 5% of the roster).
Money is No Object
Money seems to be no object for Tony Khan when it comes to signing wrestlers. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know how profitable AEW is because the company is not publicly traded. Although AEW signed a lucrative deal when WarnerMedia extended its original commitment for Dynamite, no one knows how much AEW brings in and how much it spends. While one would think that Khan’s father wouldn’t allow him to spend money foolishly, there’s just no way of knowing how much profit (if any) AEW makes every year. Tony Khan’s willingness to sign free agent after free agent suggests he either envisions a long-term payoff or he just wants to build the most prestigious roster, regardless of the cost.
An Inability to Maintain Order
Tony Khan often seems like an awestruck fan when he is around wrestlers. That’s understandable as fans often get that way when they meet their favorite wrestler. However, Khan is the President of AEW and should have learned to control his fanboy elements when he launched AEW. Watch his All Out media scrum with CM Punk and Khan looks sheepish trying to tone down or deflect Punk’s rhetoric.
Although Khan’s attitude may also reflect his desire to build a wrestler-friendly workplace, it appears he’s taken things too far. It also appears he’s let his wish to run a wrestling promotion cloud his judgment when it comes to spending money, befriending wrestlers, and managing the company as a friend rather than a boss.
Consequently, Tony Khan is a money mark. While he can boast that he has billions of dollars to fight with, the reality is that money marks are destined to lose. If Tony Khan continues losing control of his company, wrestlers will leave, the product will suffer, and costs will mount while revenue drops. It’s doubtful that his father will continue to bankroll a product that is a failure (although the Khan family’s ownership of the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars may prove me wrong on this point).
If Tony Khan can regain control, AEW has a good chance of continuing as a viable contender to the WWE. If not, he’ll join the list of other money marks and likely earn the title “King of the Money Marks.”
Do you think Tony Khan is a money mark? Let us know in the comments below.
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